31
votes
I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation
My backyard has become a muddy mess and it's creating some downstream effects, such as me spending WAY too much time vacuuming and mopping (3 dogs), and not being able to do anything meaningful in the backyard. Here are some details:
- I'm right on the edge of USDA zones 9a and 9b -- the map shows that my house is specifically in 9a, but one block south of me is 9b
- The grass in the backyard was mostly St. Augustine when I bought the house. For a number of reasons (some really harsh winters and summers, three dogs trampling the grass, etc.), the St. Augustine is entirely gone
- Last fall, as a stop-gap, I put down some weed killer to control the weeds and seeded the entire backyard with winter rye. It grew amazingly well and I had a lush, verdant backyard for one season.
- This spring, my plan was to grow bermuda grass. My thinking was that it would be able to withstand the summers but could also handle the dog traffic a bit better. So, I did some pre-emergent, scalped the winter rye, raked up most of the detritus, got the ground really wet and muddy, and laid down some bermuda seed + fertilizer
- Now, almost a month later, I haven't seen a single bit of growth. The pre-emergent has done a pretty good job of keeping the weeds out and some winter rye is still growing here and there, but other than that, it's just... mud.
So, what are my options, especially this late in the season? Should I just throw in the towel and sod it with St. Augustine again? Did I do something wrong with the bermuda? Do I need to make it through a muddy summer and reconsider my options going into the fall?
USDA 9 is fairly hot and dry, right?
Kill your lawn. Monocultures are awful. Get some native plants in there. Build a meadow. Better for biodiversity, better for the environment, better to look at. Your dogs will love it. Your yard will be full of bees and insects and little critters and all sorts of good stuff. If you want somewhere to sit, which is always nice, put in a deck or gravel area. Also moss is fucking awesome. Not to mention you can grow actual food. It's more work up front but in the long run it's way less effort.
For example: Look at this glorious native Illinois prarie, who would want a boring, sterile lawn instead of that!
Just make sure you have tick treatment for your dogs, wear bug spray yourself and check for ticks after playing in your meadow. Those fuckers are carrying more and more nasty diseases.
Or just get yourself some chickens, they love to eat ticks.
Native grasses will have much better odds of survival. And all the chemical treatments won't be necessary.
The biggest issue I've had with this (specifically, I was looking at using a seed + clover mix in the past) is that one of my dogs, who I love dearly, simply will not get the message from bees that they will sting if she attacks them.
She has 8-10 tiny little permanent scars on and around her nose from bee and wasp stings.
You could try something like microclover that is bred for reduced flowering.
I was going to suggest this as well, no reason to plant grasses that weren't meant for a certain climate. For the dogs if they need a mowed area..they can just mow the meadow grass down in some areas to keep it a bit lower.
I would agree with this.
I’ll also add that there’s a tremendously easy solution to the problem: do nothing. The easiest native plants to grow are the ones people consider weeds. If you just leave your backyard alone it will eventually populate itself with plants without you needing to do any maintenance; not even watering. You may want to do the occasional mowing if it gets too tall, but YMMV based on your exact area.
So, yes, but in the UK I haven't been able to keep up with mild maintenance and now the garden is full of blackberry (we keep a few strands to feed pollinators and birds), dock, and buddleia. It's used to be full of other stuff that people would sometimes consider to be weeds, but the other things are good for insects and pollinators and birds, but these are now being crowded out by less useful plants.
We kept it a bit relaxed, but now it's super relaxed.
Zone 9 is generally warm, but it can be either dry or humid. And it’s really only based on annual mean minimum temperature, so technically the inside of a refrigerator is zone 10. Overall, there’s a big difference between California Zone 9 and Florida Zone 9, although based on the amount of rain discussed I would suspect they are in the Eastern U.S.
I don't think that's an actual answer. My dog hates going in plants a foot tall. You're putting your pets at greater risk of ticks, bee stings, and snake bites. It's insufferable dealing with thistles and field mice. You have to watch out even for them eating milk weed. Most of those plants wouldn't survive the regular mowings needed to make it actually usable or the traffic. In my experience, native plants seem more likely to turn into mud slops since they grow less densely. I get that's trendy to hate on lawns online, but lawns are awesome for actually doing anything outside.
It's an actual answer depending on what you want from your garden. And how your animals are. Both my dogs are dead now but they loved snuffling around in plants. I don't have any need for a large area of mown grass. My garden is mostly left to it's own devices but does have paths mowed through it regularly to maintain access to garden buildings and seating areas. It's maybe 15% mown grass, at a guess.
The remainder is increasingly being taken over by wildflowers, mosses and so on. The unmown meadow-y areas absolutely teem with life in spring/summer, the traditional lawn-ish bits are relatively dead by comparison. I have not been stung by a bee yet, and there is a chance I might die if I do but also if there aren't any bees I will definitely die so I consider some good bee stuff is a risk worth taking. We don't have snakes or ticks where I live, but even if we did I'd be fine with sharing my space with them. I don't want to exclude nature from my garden, I want to encourage it.
I can still do plenty of stuff outside. I can sit and enjoy the nature while having some tea or eating a meal with friends, I can hang up my laundry, I can plant plants and harvest food. There isn't much else I want to do that I have the space for. I couldn't fly a kite or ride my bike even if I mowed the entire place. If I need a large expanse of grass for some reason, there are several parks just a short walk or ride away.
I'm not sure what you are doing when you "deal with" thistles and mice. We have plenty of both and they require no action.
For what it's worth I've thought lawns are uncool for many years, but I do think it's nice it's becoming fashionable.
Lookup your states land grant university, find their extension program website, and search for pages and data about local grass.
There is an extension program that covers every county in the US, and most that I've seen provide data from test plots with pictures on the different types of grass in the different local zones. You will get much better data than going off of USDA zones and vendor recommendations. Look for titles like a Turf Grass Specialist. Don't be afraid to email them. Most are farmers who went and got PhD's.
Don't bother buying seed mixes that include types that the extension data shows isn't right for your area or sun exposure. Buy pure bags of what you need.
Ditto on the pre-emergence comments, unless you were really careful with a selective version. Even then, I'm dubious.
What is your lawn goal? To have a perfect golf ready lawn? Gonna be a lot of work, time money. To have something green and pleasant to walk on? Try to avoid monocultures. Find local plants that pair well like regional clovers. They can be helpful with wear and tear, and fill in spots the grass struggles.
If you keep overseeding, you shouldn't need to broadly apply herbicides to control weeds. A few selective spot treatments when you see a dandelion, creeper, or thistle, etc with the overseeding should do the trick.
The pre-emergent doesn't just affect weed seeds, but it affects all seeds, including the Bermuda seeds.
Unfortunately, your best bet, at this point, is to try again in the fall (without the pre-emergent).
I audibly groaned when I saw that.
Sorry to say there will be no seed germination this year.
Grass does better growing from seed in the early fall anyhow.
What are your thoughts on OP's use of single grass verities? My understanding is that using a blend of types will give you a more hardy lawn that lasts through many different types of weather. Mine always includes plenty of clover, as well.
Krellor's post is the best suggestion IMO. Regional advice trumps all on this topic.
Yikes. How long does the pre-emergent "work" or stay active?
Usually for a couple of months. But the pre-em has pretty much killed the seeds you put down, so you'll have to put down new seed when it comes time.
I'd recommend waiting until fall before trying again. If you tried right now, your grass is going to have a lot less time to get established before the hot, dry months arrive; you'd either have a lot of that new grass die out, or you'd need to keep watering it through the summer to keep it alive.
Question for clarification: how heavily is your lawn used by you and the dogs?
If you get prolonged periods of wet/rainy weather during winter and early spring, all types of grass are very sensitive to pressure. For example, you should be able to drive on a wet lawn one time with a car and then let the ground recover for several days. If you drive over it again, it's probably going to start to be a total loss and end up in a muddy mess instantaneously.
The same concept goes for walking on the lawn. Some types of grass don't have deep roots, so walking on the lawn during wet periods may fairly quickly loosen up the dirt layer below and result in a similar muddy mess.
Apart from the above comments: I've seen a neighbor bring in an entirely new lawn recently which was rolled up in several strips. The gardening company doing the work first removed the top layer of grass still present, and then just literally rolled out the new lawn, segment by segment. No idea what the costs of a lawn replacement are, but the quality can be really good. This is what professionals actually do in stadiums to replenish the playing field once in a while. I only learned this at a later point in life...
This is the real question. Three dogs running around every day in a city or even suburban sized lot will destroy whatever grass you put down.
Yea, if it's a small lot it may well be worth investigating artificial turf.
My local dog park will fence off part of the park occasionally to give the grass time to recover. Maybe OP can just rotate which part of his lawn is open to his dogs.
Yup it's called 'laying down sod'
It's not terribly hard to do if you can source the grass. Heck, I'm ripping up a section of my lawn and using the discarded bits to make 'hair plugs' for some of the dead spots in my lawn.
Not terribly hard but the amount you need to water that grass to get it started is staggering. Sod usually requires a heavy water cycle for a month or more to get it established.
My transplants are doing surprisingly well with 0 effort, but I suppose it's in no small part because I'm relocating entire chunks of yard, complete with 2+ in of dirt with it, whereas sod usually has the absolute bare-minimum.
Yeah transplants will more than likely require less effort and water than sod. You are essentially kick starting the normal overseeding process (aerate by pulling plugs from the lawn and spreading seed) which is usually pretty successful.
Houston?
Anyway, you could try sowing clover to supplement or replace the grass. Letting native wildflowers take over is beautiful too.
Have you considered artificial turf or does it have to be grass?
I have a small backyard and two dogs. I also got tired of muddy dogs and replaced the grass with turf, specifically this one.
Complete game changer. No more cutting, no more weeds, no more mud. Just have to occasionally spray it during the summer to get rid of the dog urine smell.
Overall, a great investment.
A small 8 foot patch would probably be fine, but astroturfing a lawn is usually frowned upon in large amounts. Plastic particles will slowly make their way into the ground and ground water. There are some communities and counties banning the use of astroturf over say local grass/clover/wildflower or gravel.
You may be using the term interchangeably but we have come a long way from astroturf.
My understanding is the product I linked doesn't leech anything into the water table and is more advanced than what we typically consider astroturf to be. Important point to consider nonetheless.
I'm referring to any grass that is made from plastic. Plastics that will break down from wear and tear, and also from UV exposure. They will break down in a similar way that plastics do in the ocean. The micro plastics will filter through soil and into our water and other organic bodies.
I have considered it, but my concerns are:
As far as the urine, would it be possible to just keep my existing sprinkler system and use those to clean the turf once a week or so?
I'm not an expert but it's definitely expensive. Worth getting a quote and most places will give a 15 year warranty.
I haven't found it any hotter than grass during the summer but worth asking about if you do decide to get a quote.
I would absolutely think sprinklers would be fine. If it rains, I don't bother spraying and it usually takes a while to start smelling so it depends how proactive you are too.